Shadow's Seneschal
by Umbreomancer
Summary: The three planeswalkers who trapped the Eldrazi on Zendikar were Sorin, Ugin, and an unkown lithomancer. Unbeknownst to anyone, Sorin had cursed the lithomancer after he had made a grievous mistake, causing the lithomancer to flee to Ravnica. His story is told here.
1. Chapter 1

Shadow's Seneschal

An MTG Fan-fiction

All was not quiet in the Tenth District of Ravnica. Then again, it never was quiet; any city that big never is. The Selesnya Conclave's dryads were out preaching to all who could listen, the Azorius hussars were out enforcing their meaningless laws, and Izzet mages were creating explosions.

In other words, a normal day.

Or so it seemed, but something was coming. Something was coming that would change the face of the plane.

In one of many deserted alleyways, the air began to shimmer; not like a heat haze, but more like a haze of mana. The haze began to converge on a spot precisely two inches above the ground. It began to take on a shape, the shape of a man. The shape solidified, and the man slumped to the ground. Glowing steam rolled off his body, and his eyes were rolled back in their sockets. Pulsing runes shifted across his midnight-blue cloak, then faded. His breathing was fast and ragged, as if he were an inch away from death.

A tentacle snaked out of the air and lightly brushed his temple. With a gasp, his eyes rolled back into their spots and his breathing became regular. He sat up and looked around. "Ah," he said curiously, "Ravnica. Not my first choice, but it will do." He held up a hand and inspected the small flask he held in it. "Even more perfect," he whispered, "Sorin's blood is undisturbed." He stood up and walked out to the main street. He stared in awe at the bustling metropolis before him.

"It's changed," he said, "Prahv was over there; Vizkopa wasn't nearly as large, and Nivix didn't _glow_."

"Ah, victim of the Dimir, are you?" a voice said from behind him. He spun around and looked into the eyes of a vampire. For a minute, he looked like Sorin, but then the hallucination ended. "Doesn't matter, we get them all the time. They wiped your memory, right? Made you think you were around during the Guildpact?"

"Um, yes, I suppose," the man replied evasively. The truth wouldn't make sense to this vampire, "But who are you? I didn't think vampires came out during the day."

"What are you talking about? I don't know where you come from, but on Ravnica, vampires can be in the sunlight." He stuck out his hand. "Mirko Vosk."

The man shook it. "Julna Buras," he replied.

Three weeks later, Julna was living comfortably in one of the higher buildings of the Tenth. Mirko was telepathic, and he had been able to plant fake memories in key people who owned the building. Julna suspected that Mirko was Dimir; not many people outside the House knew how to plant memories, but Julna needed the privacy for this experiment. He had been sneaking to Esper for several days now to collect the necessary etherium, but now he could start. Using his lithomancy, he fashioned an etherium body out of the metal. It looked crude and like something discarded by the Izzet, but he wasn't finished yet. Pouring mana into the simulacra, he opened the flask he had brought with him from Zendikar. Even as he was about to pour it on the body, and a small shard was ejected from the heart of the figure. It fell to the ground and began to twitch violently. Julna picked it up, only to be thrown violently to the side as the shard of etherium pulled him out of his home and all the way down to the ground level of the district. It pulled him to the very center of the district, and then pulled him downward as it drove itself into the ground. Pulsating blue lines rippled outward from the shard, and they seemed to become shimmering serpents as they traveled in ten different directions.

Julna felt that that would make like an Orzhov contract and come back to haunt him.

The shard seemed to be inert once again as Julna reached down to touch it. Hurrying back to his home, he inserted the shard back into the simulacra. He once again opened the flask while pouring mana into the body. He took a dagger and pricked his thumb, dropping two drops of blook into the flask. Saying unintelligible words, he infused the contents of the flask with mana.

Taking the flask, he approached the simulacra. Still chanting, he poured dark red blood over the body of etherium.

Rather than just flowing off the smooth metal, the blood moved seemingly of its own accord until it covered the entire structure. Etherium melted around the blood, turning into flesh, until only an etherium skeleton remained. The flesh became more and more opaque, even as veins and arteries formed, until a living, breathing human body stood before him. It didn't have a mind in it. Not yet anyway.

Julna was getting weaker. He needed to get out of this body before Sorin's final curse got rid of him for good. Placing his hands on the body's temples, he began chanting in the divine language of Theros, calling on his own consciousness. He directed it into the body he had created, and he felt a peculiar feeling as his mind was transferred from body to the other. As there was no more consciousness to stop it, Sorin's curse made short work of the old body, turning the flesh to dust. As the new Julna opened his eyes, the same tentacle that had revived him in the alleyway shot out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Julna's head, pulsing rapidly with black mana. Every cell in Julna's new body erupted in unspeakable agony as black magic was woven into his being.

The last thing he remembered was falling to the ground as the tentacle snaked back into nothingness.

He awoke when he heard the maid coming up the stairs. Realizing that he had never actually put clothes on this new body, he said a quick word to keep the stone door from opening.

For reasons he did not yet understand, it did not work, and the maid came in to see whom to her eyes was a naked stranger in her employer's house, standing next to a pile of dust covered in her employer's clothes. She shrieked and tried to run to the door. Julna attempted to follow her, raising his hand to try and stop her, when the most peculiar thing happened. His shadow detached itself from his feet and reached out to the maid's shadow. When it came into contact with the shadow of the maid's arm, it closed its hand around the arm and yanked it backwards, somehow pulling the maid with it. "Melena! It's me!" he said desperately as she tried to scream, only to be muffled somehow by Julna's shadow. He leaned down next to her ear and whispered a word only he and she would know, as she was not from Innistrad: "Stromkirk". He had told her this in the unlikely event that a Dimir agent ever hijacked his body. It still worked now; she seemed to calm down and turned around to allow him to pull on his clothes. He explained somewhat why he looked entirely different from his former self, telling her how he used lithomancy and a sangromancer's blood in order to fashion himself a new body. She nodded, though he couldn't tell if she understood exactly what he was saying. She said, "I'll go get you a mirror. You should see what you look like now." She ran out and returned with a small hand mirror. Julna marveled at his reflection; when he had come to Ravnica he had been around 50 years old. Now, he was a little older than twenty, and he knew that he was going to look like that for a VERY long time. His body was immortal, thanks to the etherium.

But why had his lithomancy failed to work?

Mirko was more than a little shocked when he found Julna looking much different than he used to be.

"Julna!" he exclaimed in shock, "What happened to you?"

Julna explained an abridged version of the process of creating his new body, excluding the fact that the material used happened to come from a different universe.

"When I woke up, I tried to use my lithomancy again, but it didn't work," Julna explained, "Instead, my shadow seemed to take on a life of its own and was able to control my maid."

"Interesting…" Mirko said, "Julna, would you like to meet with the people I work for?"

Julna knew that Mirko worked for the Dimir; a week back, he was repulsed when Mirko had asked this the first time, but for some reason, now it excited him. He wanted to meet this guild of spies.

"Certainly," Julna said, "I would love to work for the Dimir."

Mirko's eyes flashed, and he said, "I didn't say _work_ for them; I only said you could meet them. We will determine if you are worthy to join the House."

They moved swiftly through the Ravnican undercity, being careful to avoid patches of fungus that could hold Golgari monsters. Strangely, the more they walked, the more Julna felt that he had pressing business elsewhere. He eventually had to bring this up to Mirko, who just laughed and said, "Oh, those are just the memory wards. Whenever you get close to them, they rearrange your memory so that you leave. Ignore it."

They eventually reached a glowing blue arch that led into a dark corridor. Two vampire sentinels dropped down from nowhere and crossed their swords in front of the pair. Without stopping, Mirko placed a hand on each vampire's hand and concentrated. The vampires slumped to the ground, and the blue glow shut itself off.

"Why did you do that?" Julna asked incredulously.

"They expect it of me. If I didn't do that, they'd think I was an impostor." He advanced through the corridor, with Julna following behind.

The corridor opened up into an immense, circular canal, like a moat. Sitting in the middle of the dank water was a tall, dark tower. Julna breathed in, absorbing the black and blue mana inherent in this dark, damp place. This was a powerful place for a planeswalker of blue or black magic.

Mirko seemed to step straight onto the water, but Julna guessed that there was an invisible bridge that led straight to the tower, which Julna suspected was Duskmantle. They reached the large door emblazoned with the Dimir insignia, and Mirko knocked once. The door swung open of its own accord, and they walked in.

The inside of Duskmantle was surprisingly innocuous. A circular room ringed with torches was the entry hall, with a single staircase leading upward off to one side. Mirko and Julna began ascending the staircase, and Julna marveled at how uniform Duskmantle looked. At every floor, there was a door leading into a section of the tower. Mirko and Julna stopped at the very top floor, where the door was open. They entered, and Julna saw someone he never wanted to see again.

"SORIN!?" He screamed, running into the room. He was about to open up the floor beneath his feet when he remembered that his lithomancy wasn't working.

Sorin only laughed. "I am not your enemy, Julna Buras," he said. His flesh melted and reformed into that of a cloaked figure, his face invisible. "I am Lazav, leader of the House. Mirko has told me that he has found an excellent umbreomancer in you."

"Umbreomancy?" Julna asked, "What's that?"

"Shadow magic, Buras. Shadow magic."

Mirko led Julna back down the staircase, Julna fuming all the while. Lazav had explained how most new Dimir initiates were not even told of the existence of Duskmantle; Julna was admitted only because of his potential. Julna knew this potential was obvious; planeswalkers are among the most powerful of mages. What made Julna mad was that Lazav knew everything about him, save Julna's planeswalker status. Mirko had dredged up everything he could in the split second before Julna saw him for who he was; that was why Julna momentarily saw Mirko as Sorin. Mirko had invaded his mind before they had even met!

Mirko was reading his emotions even now. "Come now, Julna", he chided as they stopped outside a door leading to one of the levels of Duskmantle, "Did you really expect otherwise? Master Lazav never lets anyone see him without finding out everything about that person." He opened the door and beckoned Julna to come inside.

Inside the door was a spacious main room with many corridors leading to other sections. A large Dimir insignia was tiled on the floor, and Mirko was very careful to walk around it. Julna followed suit. They proceeded down one of the corridors until they reached another door. Mirko knocked three times and said, "Grade-A initiate to enter the Umbreomancer's Sanctum."

The door opened to reveal another vampire, this one much smaller than Mirko. He took Julna by the arm and pulled him into the room.

Inside was a ring of vampires seated on the ground. They all stared at Julna as he walked in. The vampire directed Julna to stand in the center of the circular room. He then spoke, "Now then, Lord Vosk told us that you were a Grade-A initiate. That means that you must have beguiling potential if you have been admitted to Duskmantle already. What can you do?"

"I don't know," Julna replied, "I haven't really tried. All I know is that I somehow made my shadow detach from my feet and manipulate a flesh-and-blood person."

The vampires hissed. "Impossible," one said. "He can't have progressed that far," another proclaimed.

The lead vampire raised his hands to silence him. "Can you show us?" he asked.

Julna shifted on his feet. "Maybe. Like I said, I don't know how I did it." He raised his hand began to concentrate. He could feel the mana coming into him from the canal around him.

One of the vampires snickered and said, "He is nothing but a charlatan." He laughed out loud, then gasped as Julna's shadow detached and grabbed the vampire's shadow's throat. Julna quickly brought the shadow back to him, leaving the offender retching and breathing raggedly.

"Amazing," the leader said, "You are beyond anything we have seen."

Julna looked at the awed faces of the vampires around him, then crumpled to the ground as an onslaught of voices suddenly assaulted his mind. He tried to make out what they were saying, but could only hear a few snippets, such as "He is the one" and "Our Seneschal appears".

"It's the shades!" one of the vampires cried. He ran over to an iron door set into the wall and banged on it violently. The voices ceased. "Our apologies," he said kindly, "The shades can be… unruly. Let us show you around the Sanctum."

Julna walked swiftly, moving as quietly as he could. He needed to see what those voices were.

He had been training with the Dimir for two weeks now, and he felt that no one was able to teach him more than a few basic tricks. They taught him how to better manipulate shadows; they had taught him how to light a room by moving the shadows to one side. But no matter how much they tried to explain, Julna refused to accept that this was all that umbreomancers could do. Shadow was more than just the absence of light; it had _substance _to it, of that Julna was sure. Why else were powerful umbreomancers able to sink themselves into shadow to travel, then rematerialize somewhere else?

He approached the iron door and fought to walk through the tumult of voices that came on his mind.

"SILENCE," he whispered as forcefully as he could.

The voices ceased. "That's better," Julna said, "Now, I need to know what you are."

"WE ARE SHADES."

"Yes, I gathered that. But what ARE you? What are you made of?"

"WE ARE SHADES. THE SHADOWS ARE OUR SUBSTANCE"  
Julna smiled in triumph. That alone told him what he needed to know. "Who is your leader? How are you governed?"

"WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE WORDS MEAN."

Julna smiled again. He could make them serve him, given the proper training. "How did you come to exist?"

"WE WERE BORN FROM SHADOW AND LIGHT. THE SHADOW WAS OUR SUBSTANCE, BUT OUR SUBSTANCE WAS PULLED BY AN ARTIFACT OF LIGHT. THE LIGHT WAS BLACK, AND THE ARTIFACT HAD STRANGE WORDS WRITTEN WITHIN IT. THE CREATOR HAD A SPARK OF LIGHT WITHIN HER AS WELL."

Julna was taken aback at this. A planeswalker made them? Probably Liliana and her accursed chain veil. The light they spoke of was mana, and the shadows were pulled in and mixed with mana. Julna wanted to try this for himself.

At midnight, Julna was one of the few left in Duskmantle. He stood in the center of the canal, letting the black and blue mana flow throughout him. Earlier, he had succeeded in detaching a shadow from a piece of furniture and letting it float freely in the air in the form of smoke. He pulled several shadows this way until it was almost impossible to see. He lifted his cloak and began chanting, the magical runes flaring to life. He began to spin, letting the cloak flow through the shadow until it was absorbed. He suddenly jerked the cloak forward and pulled it back like a whip. The shadow absorbed in the cloak, now infused with mana, shot out and formed into a shade. It opened a pair of glowing white eyes and said, "I thank you for creating me. Now I will leave." It tried to glide away, but Julna's shadow held it back.

"Oh no," Julna said, "You are my servant. I created you, and soon, your brethren will join me." He flicked his wrist, propelling the shade into Duskmantle and locking it safely with the other shades.

He then proceeded to his REAL task. Detaching his shadow from his feet, Julna let it float. A planeswalker or even just a human's shadow is much more potent and powerful than the shadow of ordinary things; and an umbreomancing planeswalker's shadow was a powerful thing, indeed. So powerful, that Julna planned to make a shade king out of it.

Spinning again, he chanted and pulled in more mana than ever before. When the shadow settled, a shade much more solid and pristine formed. It opened eyes that were bright blue, and it said, "I thank you for creating me. Unlike my brethren whom you have told me of as you formed me, I shall be loyal to you always and forever. I ask only for a name in return."

"That's not an unreasonable request," Julna remarked, "I will call you Falderin, and I will set spells and hexes that will allow you to always be at my beck and call, but will always be near me and share in my power."

"I thank you for this name. What are we to do after that?"

Julna looked at all the shadows around him, just waiting to be formed. "Then, Falderin, we shall build an army."

Creating shades became more and more easy. The shadows he took replenished themselves every day when the light came in, so he had an infinite supply. He was very careful to not take a person's shadow, as the shade spawned from it would be as powerful as Falderin and much more unruly.

Falderin right now as hiding, as Julna did not want to reveal his power just yet. He was impersonating Julna's shadow, as the shadow of a living thing does not grow back. He was able to communicate with Julna this way, and Julna could make sure that Falderin wasn't committing any acts of treason.

Lazav, of course, knew about Julna's abilities and what he could do; he knew everything about Julna. He had sent Julna out to investigate suspicious markings appearing throughout the Tenth District rather than send Julna on the normal umbreomancer's errand of catching renegade shades and locking them in that cell.

Julna approached the point where Lazav told him that these lines were appearing. When they came in view, he cursed and stumbled back.

It was the blue lines, the ones that Julna's etherium had somehow caused to become active. They were pulsing, leading back in the direction of Duskmantle, as well as to Vizkopa and Nivix. What were these? He sensed law magic in them, but he could not imagine how the Azorius could place something so subtle and that encompassed an entire district, possibly the whole city!

Falderin called to Julna to detach him in the form of an intense stomach pain; grimacing, Julna spoke the command words that would free Falderin. He solidified and inspected the lines. "Pah! Leylines," he said, "Created by the blue and white manas. We must inform this to the shape-changing one." He returned to his shadowy state at Julna's feet.

"Leylines?" Lazav asked incredulously, "Lines of pure mana? Impossible. My spies would have discovered this a long time ago."

"Actually, Lord Lazav," Julna said tentatively, "You wouldn't have. These lines have been dormant for a very long time."

"Then why have they suddenly activated?"

"Because of me, Lord Lazav. While I was shaping myself a new body, due to the curse that you learned had been set upon me, a shard of the metal I used detached itself and drove itself into the ground, nearly pulling me along with it. It began to glow, and the lines pulsed outward and fled in ten directions. I feel strongly that they went to the ten guildhalls, if you can call Skarrg a guildhall."

"You did this, Buras?"

"I did, Lord Lazav, and now, if I may be so bold as to ask, could I inspect them? I wish to be a spy in this guild, and I have many talents that could be unique to you."

Lazav thought for a moment. "All right, Julna, you will be my personal and chief spy. You will send your shades throughout Ravnica, gathering information on these leylines. I have received reports that the Izzet are unusually interested in these lines. The shades will gather all intelligence on the leylines and the Izzet's endeavors, then will report back to you and that king of shades you have so cleverly concealed." He tossed Julna a small blue stone. "This is a guidestone," he said, "It unlocks a much more reliable way back to Duskmantle. It will activate the leylines that lead to this guildhall, but, if you come here without following them, the immense memory wards I have now placed will plague you until you leave. Work well, Julna Buras, and soon the mysteries of these lines will be yours to behold."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

House of Secrets

Julna awoke to whispers. This was not unexpected; his army of shades was constantly sending him information as they performed reconnaissance across all of Ravnica, but these whispers were louder. Someone was deliberately trying to awake him.

As it was always dark within Duskmantle, it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night, but it did not matter to Julna; he slept when he needed to, which seemed more often as he continued to investigate the leylines he had activated in the Tenth District. He awoke slowly, trying to delay the inevitable, but the shade would not be denied. He opened his eyes and saw a low-class shade staring into his face. "We have information, Lord Buras," it said, "The Azorius Senate will be discussing a new decree today."

"And why would I care what those pompous fools decree?" Julna bitingly replied.

"Because this edict discusses restrictions on the Izzet's research resources; it could give us some information on just what they're trying to do with these leylines."

Julna was fully awake now. "Inform Falderin to come here at once. He must be at my side. And inform Master Lazav of my departure," he said quickly. Finally, a lead! The Izzet were maddeningly covert about their operations; Julna had traveled far and wide in search of information, he had spoken to Gruul beastmasters and even the new Boros guildleader, Aurelia, but no one seemed to have witnessed the Izzet's endeavors; all the Dimir knew was that the leylines formed a kind of maze that connected all ten guilds. How unusual that his lead should come from the Azorius Senate. It did not matter; information was information.

As Julna exited Duskmantle, a shadow flitted across the doorway and attached itself to his feet. Good. Now he could call Falderin whenever he needed to, and Falderin could bring him any shade that he felt needed Julna's personal attention.

As he stepped into the sunlight, he could vaguely see, with the help of Falderin's eyes, the leylines as they snaked just under the surface of Ravnica. Falderin had suspected that the Azorius created them, but what was their purpose? Hopefully, Julna was about to find out.

Unfortunately, pointless politics gave Julna an immense headache. He had been sitting in the main senate-house of New Prahv for the last three hours, and he was now convinced that his shades had failed him. The Azorius lawmages had spent the time arguing over whether slaughterhorn goring should be prohibited to spare the poor Orzhov thrulls any more discomfort.

There was nothing about Izzet resources or anything good for the investigation.

_My shades must have been mistaken_, Julna thought, _I shall have Falderin upbraid them severely; they should have made sure before they came to me._

He got up and left, not willing to listen to the drudgery down on the floor for any longer.

Mirko peered down from a balcony high above the view of anyone else in the senate-house and watched Julna leave. He smiled to himself.

_So those shades are much more easily fooled than I thought. He didn't even think to examine their minds for signs of tampering,_ he thought delightedly, _Lord Lazav will not be pleased. Hopefully this will make me his favorite servant and drop Buras out of favor._ He slyly inched out of the house, obliterating any memories that he had ever been seen there from anyone who glimpsed his departure.

Julna aimlessly wandered through New Prahv, not even paying attention to where he was going. Rather than this being a mistake, it was necessary; there was no other way for him to return to Duskmantle. As almost every room in New Prahv looked the same, so it was not long before he had no idea where he was. He smiled and pulled out the guidestone that Lazav had given him two months ago when he had been recruited into the House. Holding it up and drawing blue mana from the fountains in the courtyard, he whispered, "I am lost and in need of information." The words had to be spoken with absolute truth, or the ingrained spells in the stone would not activate.

Even with the words, the spell did not work. With a curse, Julna realized his folly: the law magic surrounding New Prahv was blocking the spell, and the alarm hexes would certainly have been tripped by the attempt. Stowing the guidestone in a pocket, he lifted up his ever-present cloak and began chanting, pulling massive amounts of mana from the fountains outside. With a flourish, Julna vanished, even as Arrester Lavinia, flanked by a pair of deputies, came running into the office. All they saw was a shimmer as Buras disappeared.

He reappeared in the Ninth District, near Sunhome, but he could not tell exactly where. Convincing himself that he was "lost enough", he pulled out the guidestone again and repeated the words.

The shimmering blue leylines appeared beneath his feet, leading through an alleyway to the left. He followed them, being very careful to avoid the patches of fungus that could hide any hidden Golgari menaces. Twisting into a busy street, he sent out a few medium-strength shades to make himself inconspicuous to any who saw him.

Once he had begun investigating the leylines, Julna very quickly discovered something important: the leylines weren't just in the Tenth District; they spanned the entire city. This was quite useful; Julna had memorized almost every nook and cranny of the Tenth District and it was becoming very hard to speak the guidestone's activation with any sense of truth. Now he could go anywhere and activate the leylines.

He followed the lines for several miles, moving faster than any human thanks to his etherium infused body. He didn't fancy himself an artificer, (Julna had worked much more with stone than metal, back when he was a lithomancer), but he had to say that this body was better than he could have ever dreamed. His only hope in creating it had been to stop himself from dying from Sorin's blood curse, but his idea to use etherium instead of steel was pure genius. He had met Tezzeret once when he had been searching for Jace Beleren to stop him from releasing the Eldrazi, and the two of them had discussed many of the differences and similarities between stone and metal. Tezzeret had even given Julna the location of some of his etherium caches (with some help from the suspicion-numbing agent in his drink). He hadn't thought much of it at the time, but after Sorin wrongfully cursed him after the Eldrazi had been released, he realized etherium was perfect. It would make him immune to disease and bodily curses; the increased physical abilities were an added bonus.

He approached an innocent looking alleyway that had an arch at the end, leading into another alleyway; the arch was glowing very faintly blue. As he came near it, two vampires dropped down from unseen crevices and a pressure was put on his mind, trying to convince him to turn back and forget. At other times, Julna would have commended them for their mildly challenging hold on his mind, but he had just spent three hours in the Azorius Senate, so he had no patience now. With a few words, Falderin detached himself and placed the week's password into their minds in the most painful way possible. The two vampires doubled over as if punched, their minds reeling from a being of such high power possessing their minds. One choked out, "We apologize, Lord Buras. The Arrester Lavinia and her deputies have gotten extremely close as of late, and Master Lazav told us to double our telepathic efforts, so we had to practice on someone. If we had known your experience of the day, we would have refrained. You are always welcome at Duskmantle."

Julna whisked past them without replying, passing under the arch without consequence. He strode down the hallway, not altogether prepared on how Lazav was going to react to failure. He had not wanted his chief spy so deep in enemy territory in the first place, and to find out that there was no reason for it…. Well, it wouldn't be pretty.

The alleyway opened up into the now familiar chamber containing Duskmantle and the mana-rich waters around it. The water contained a hidden passageway that led to the door. This was where Falderin had been created, and Julna had fond memories of this place because of that.

But the person who was waiting inside…

He walked cautiously up to the imposing door with the Dimir symbol burned into the center and knocked once. That was enough to alert him to his presence.

The door swung open without a sound, probably the work of a telekinetic sentry. Julna walked in, sending a shade to inform the hidden sentry to Julna's identity. The sentry jumped audibly at the touch of the shade.

Julna enjoyed that. No one had expected someone to become Master Lazav's chief spy so quickly, but Julna was unlike anyone in the House. Even Lazav didn't know that he was a planeswalker, and hardly anyone understood just how powerful umbreomancy really was. No one knew just how extensive Julna's abilities were, and no one wanted to find out. Once, a vampire had come up and started asking questions about what Julna could do (probably at Mirko's insistence), but that had quickly stopped after Julna had introduced the vampire to Falderin.

He ascended the spiral staircase that led to every room in Duskmantle. Halfway up was the Umbreomancers' Sanctum (Now Julna's lair), but that wasn't where he was headed. Lazav wanted reports after every one of Julna's excursions. He was going to Lazav's chamber.

He reached the final landing and entered the room without knocking. Lazav already knew that Julna was here; knocking was a formality that there wasn't time for. Julna wanted to get this over with as quick as possible.

Sitting in a simple chair was Sorin. Or so it seemed. Julna knew it was Lazav; he loved tormenting Julna with enemies from his past. He had received this knowledge of Julna's demons thanks to Mirko Vosk, who had invaded Julna's mind at the moment they had met.

"Well, Buras, do you have something to tell me?" Lazav said, "You did not seem happy when you came in here."

"The expedition was… unfruitful," Julna said softly.

Lazav's eyes narrowed. "Define 'unfruitful'."

Julna sighed and said, "There was nothing helpful to the investigation. My shades were wrong. I apologize Lord Lazav. I shall-" Julna doubled over in pain; Falderin was calling him. Julna spat out the five command words, and his shadow detached from his feet and formed into Falderin, who had accosted a shade of lower degree. "I was told by this lower-shade to bring him straight to you, Master. He claims to have information regarding the Azorius and the leylines."

Still under the terrifying gaze of Lazav, Julna motioned for the shade to begin its story.

"I was wandering through the shadows of New Prahv," it said, "When I saw your escape from the Arrester Lavinia. Seeing that you had left, I was about to follow you when an Azorius hussar came and told Lavinia to report to Isperia, the Azorius Guildmaster. Curious as to why an arrester was needed by the Supreme Judge, I followed her, being very careful to not be noticed. There, I witnessed a discussion between the two that revealed much. The Azorius know about the leylines, though I do not believe they know that the Azorius themselves placed them, and they plan to follow them across all of Ravnica. Niv-Mizzet has discovered that the lines form an enormous Maze that traverses the entire city. No one knows where it ends, but it seems the Guilds are choosing champions to follow it until they find the Maze's end. Isperia then gave a new sword to the Arrester and proclaimed her the Azorius champion, telling her that the weapon would assist her greatly with her law magic. They then brought in a platoon of unruly Rakdos cultists, and she put them all in magical cages just by raising that sword. Then Master Falderin found me, and I saw no more." He bowed and stepped away. Falderin took him and led him to the Sanctum where all the shades were now, waiting to be summoned through shadow by Julna's magic.

Julna looked at Lazav and said, "Well, I guess the trip wasn't a waste after all. This is very valuable information."

"Yes, it is," said Lazav, "But unfortunately for you, Buras, it is information I have already heard. The only thing I did not know was Lavinia's part in all this. That Arrester is now VERY dangerous."

Julna flinched. "Then you have chosen a champion then?"

Lazav looked at him and said, "Yes, I have."

Julna bowed. "I am honored that you have-"

"I have not chosen you, Buras," Lazav laughed, "After your near-failure? You failed to bring me the important knowledge that the leylines are more than they appear. For bringing me this knowledge, I awarded Mirko Vosk the honor of being House Dimir's champion. He shall run the maze, and you shall stay behind to admonish your shades for being so easily fooled. Law magic has addled them, and you would do well to prepare them for these kinds of things in the future. Now leave me before I am forced to wipe your memory." He waved a negligent hand in a sign of dismissal.

Fuming, Julna left the top room and began chanting, raising Urza's cloak as the runes pulsed brighter. With a flourish of his cloak, he disappeared from Duskmantle and reappeared in his old home in the Tenth District. He had not been here since he had started working for the Dimir about six weeks earlier, though his servant Melena was keeping things clean for his return. He noticed it was night in this part of the city, so, since he did not want to wake her, he vented his anger by smashing all the shadows in the room. The sound wasn't as satisfying, but it was enough. Sitting down in a chair, Julna considered what to do. He did not want to work for the Dimir anymore, not with Mirko Vosk stealing all his glory.

Wait a minute...

Julna summoned the original shade who had misinformed him of the Azorius' discussions. Searching through the shade's mind, he found that the shade had NOT witnessed the Azorius planning to discuss Izzet materials, they were going to discuss slaughterhorn goring. Someone had tampered with the shade's memory! Judging by the dark way the tampered memories were portrayed and the subtlety of the changing, Julna was pretty sure that Mirko Vosk was the one responsible.

Now Julna knew what he was going to do. He would run the Maze himself, and using Urza's cloak and his umbreomancy, he would beat Mirko, Lavinia, and anyone else who stood in his way.

But Mirko's mind abilities were incredibly powerful, and Falderin would not be able to defend Julna's mind on a daily basis if Mirko found out what he was doing. Julna needed an incredibly powerful mind mage as an ally.

And he was pretty sure he knew exactly where to find one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Mind & Shadow

Note: If any of the following chapters involving Jace on Ravnica is a blatant copy of scenes from The Secretist, please tell me. The only storyline I have of what happens to Jace is from that book, so I need to use them, but I wish to tell a different viewpoint of many of these events.

Jace crouched in an alleyway, searching for the thought-pattern he was following. Ral Zarek was being covert all of a sudden; he had never known a storm mage doing that. Zarek and his cohorts were trying very hard not to be seen as they made their way towards Nivix.

Waiting until they were a good distance away, Jace got up and followed them, making himself inconspicuous to the minds of anyone who saw him.

All except one, whom he didn't know was watching the watcher.

Julna stood on a shaded rooftop, looking at Jace Beleren through the eyes of the shades that were tailing him. After days of searching for a telepath to rival the power of Mirko Vosk, Beleren had so conveniently returned from Zendikar two months after Julna had. True, Julna was rather unhappy that Beleren had unwittingly assisted in the release of the Eldrazi, which Sorin had blamed Julna for, but Julna needed a telepath, and Jace was the best of the best.

Julna spoke the words that would send Falderin scrambling to catch up with Jace.

Jace had followed Ral all the way to the Guildgate of Nivix. He had had some close calls on the way, but this was turning out to be the best idea he had had in a while. Ral Zarek was meeting with Niv-Mizzet himself.

Ral began talking. "We have done what you have requested, Great One, though we had a harder time doing it than we thought. The pattern revealed itself, but only by causing extensive damage to the undercity."

Mizzet's eyes narrowed. "Come inside and we shall discuss this further," he growled. Turning his enormous body to fly up to the top of Nivix.

Jace couldn't miss this chance. He fused his mind with Niv-Mizzet.

Julna stared incredulously. This couldn't be right. Falderin was sending a very timid probe towards Jace's mind, and from what he could see, Jace and Niv-Mizzet were currently one and the same. Was Beleren foolish or desperate enough to invade the Firemind itself?

Either way, Julna had to do something about it. Using black mana from the Golgari fungus around him, he melted himself into the shadow of the overhang and traveled all the way down to the ground, materializing again next to Falderin.

"Master!" Falderin said cautiously, guessing what Julna was about to do, "Do you think this wise? We do not want the Izzet finding out our affiliation to the Dimir."

"That's only if they can get through your telepathic defenses. We're going to throw our combined might at the Firemind to keep him from overwhelming our prospective ally. Come on, we need to get as close as possible. Niv-Mizzet is starting to notice that something is wrong."

Jace was astounded at what he found. His mental surroundings manifested itself as a mansion on fire, but not being destroyed. The fire did not burn, it was simply there. Many hallways and doors branched off from the entrance hall where Jace was standing. In place of a door behind him was the dragon's Mind's eye. Rather than being a metaphor for inner concentration, this was an actual eye that was closed at the moment, Niv-Mizzet not being aware that someone had invaded his mind. Jace sprinted down the corridors. Every door had a little peek hole set in the wood, and Jace looked through a few, and realized that they were the doors to the dragon's memories and knowledge. Everything ever done by the Izzet, things dating back to the Guildpact and before, was catalogued in this dragon's mind. This was the greatest treasure trove of knowledge in Ravnica, possibly in the Multiverse, and it was at his command. There was the knowledge of the Maze, and there was a personal conversation with Azor himself, and, and, and…

He couldn't fully comprehend the amazing store in here. But he didn't have time to. He could tell that the dragon was becoming aware of an intruder, and his mind's eye was opening, trying to get a glimpse of Jace.

But something was happening. Two… things were attempting to keep it closed. They were both shadowy, insubstantial, but the trails of dark energy they left behind were acting as a sort of cage, keeping the dragon from attacking the unwanted visitor.

_What?... _Jace thought.

"I think it's working!" Falderin yelled telepathically as they struggled to keep the mind's eye closed. Julna had never met a mind so powerful or vast. Falderin was certainly acting the optimist; Julna couldn't hold on much longer. And Beleren was taking his sweet time doing what he came to do.

"Hurry up!" Julna barked at Jace, "Before this dragon sends us all to Phyrexia!" He didn't usually make allusions to other planes, especially that particular one, but he needed to identify himself as a potential ally against Ral Zarek and the Izzet. Zarek had so carefully hidden his planeswalker abilities from the dragon, but other planeswalkers, or indeed, their shadows, could easily see the signs of a spark in him.

Jace immediately began searching through memories of the Maze, not even trying to be subtle anymore. Time was of the essence.

The mind's eye shattered the cage and snapped open a split second before Jace was finished. Julna and Falderin had time to leave and hide, but Jace was still preoccupied with finding the memories, and he escaped a moment too late. Niv-Mizzet hadn't found anything out about Beleren, but he now knew Jace was there.

As soon as their minds were back in their own bodies, Julna immediately grabbed Jace and began chanting, raising Urza's cloak. As Niv-Mizzet swirled his head around, trying to find them, the runes on the cloak flashed, and the two mages vanished.

They reappeared in the Second District, near Vitu-Ghazi and the Rubblebelt. It was luck entirely that they were in a part of the city that didn't have many citizens wandering about, not wanting to fall prey to bloodthirsty Gruul Shamans or worse, the slaughterhorns. Julna pulled Jace to his feet and said, "Hurry, we have to move. We need to be somewhere safe when Niv-Mizzet's planeswalker comes after us with his storm elementals. If you promise to let me wipe your memory of its location after we leave there, I can lead you to a safe-house."

"The Maze," Jace mumbled, "So THAT'S what it's for…"

Julna cleared his throat. "Did you hear me? We have to move."

Jace turned to Julna. "And go where? I don't even know who you are and you're trying to help me. Coming from personal experiences, I can't trust people like that."

"Well, you're going to have to change that. Look!" Julna pointed to the rooftops far above. Flashing in between the spires of the city were red, fleshy blurs. "Hypersonic dragons," Julna said, "They'll be on us in a couple of minutes!"

He still wasn't moving. Julna rolled his eyes and slammed his fist down on Jace's head. The mind mage crumpled like a rag doll. Concentrating, he ran straight towards the dark wall in front of him, Falderin dragging Jace behind him. As his head was about to connect with the hard stone, Julna closed his eyes and the three of them dissolved into the shadow. The hypersonic dragons swooped down, only to find an empty alleyway and three shadows moving irregularly, their supposed casters staying very, very still.

Jace woke up to total darkness. All he could tell of his surroundings was that it smelled like the undercity. He sat up and tenderly rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. "Ugh, what did you DO to me? I've never felt such a powerful jolt spell in my life."

"That's because it wasn't," the stranger's voice came from out of the darkness. "I just hit you really hard."

"Do you think you could turn on a light? I would enjoy being able to see you."

Uttering a few words in a language Jace didn't recognize, all of the darkness in the room seemed to shift until it was all tightly packed in a corner of absolute blackness. Everywhere else was suddenly flooded with light from no source, and Jace saw the stranger clearly. He didn't look that menacing for someone who had double-handedly fought off the mind of Niv-Mizzet. He was a man of about mid-twenties, with black clothes that showed no sign of wear and nothing of where he might have come from, if not for the subtle black spikes at the shoulders. This man was wearing the uniform of a Dimir spy!

Not wanting to let this chance slip, Jace threw his mind at the agent to see what he could discern of the Dimir's plan for the Maze.

Julna expected Jace to attempt to probe his mind, but he was on no account going to allow it. Using twelve words in the divine language of Theros, his birthplane, Julna summoned all the mana from the various hotspots in the district and was even able to draw mana from swamps of Zendikar and Theros. Gathering all this energy within himself, he summoned every shade he commanded and threw them at Jace in response.

Instantly the growing pressure in his brain disappeared, and Jace slumped on the ground again, trying to fight off the onslaught that Julna had unleashed.

That was the beauty of the divine language. In words it could accomplish the equivalent of several sentences in any language of mortals. Learning it had been an arduous journey in and of itself, and Julna shuddered to think of the cost of the quest. It was not something he would do again, but he was glad he had done it. Being able to summon all shades in one burst was certainly proving useful, as well as being able to shape an etherium body better than any master artificer, even Tezzeret.

After a few minutes of prolonged silence with a few suppressed whimpers from Jace as he fought the shades, Julna sent them all back to Duskmantle (he'd really need to find another place to put them soon). His aim was not to incapacitate Jace for the foreseeable future, but simply to demonstrate his power and what would happen if Jace tried to invade Julna's mind. Jace sat up, wide-eyed and full of terror, and simply asked in a quiet voice, "Who ARE you!?"

"My name is Julna Buras," Julna said, "And I've come for your help."

"And again: Why would I want to help you?"

"Because I don't believe either of us wants Lazav or Niv-Mizzet to figure out the Maze first."

"Well, you're right about that. You're a planeswalker, judging by the fact that you know what Phyrexia is. Where are you from? What plane were you born on?"

"I was born in the small village of Lexissora on the plane of Theros."

"Theros? I don't think I've ever heard of that plane."

"Very few have. Not many have been there; not that it's blocked from planeswalking, it's just unknown."

"What's your magical specialty and mana type?"

"I am a black/blue mage who specializes in Umbreomancy, or shadow magic, if you prefer. Go on, ask me another question. I'm enjoying this little game."

"Why are you so interested in me? What do you want?"

Julna smiled. "Like I said, I need your help. A certain employer of mine recently made a decision that I did not agree with, and so I quit the organization. Unfortunately, I must still confront a certain member of said organization who is a very accomplished telepath. I need a telepathic mage of similar or greater powers in order to defeat him."

"That's why you need me. What is that cloak? I can tell that you value it above all else, and the magical runes are very faint on the inside, but what is it? What can it do?"

"This cloak is the most valuable object I possess. It was created by Urza and has many powers. Not only does it power up my magic itself, using certain words, it allows me to instantly teleport anywhere, and I do mean ANYWHERE."

Jace's eyes widened. "Anywhere? You can travel instantly to Nivix?"

"Yes."

"Esper?"

"Child's play. I just traveled there about a month ago to collect etherium for a little experiment."

"The Inner Sanctuary of Nicol Bolas?"

"Yes, but why in the world would I want to do that?"

Jace seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "One last question: What is the extent of your powers? What can you do?"

Julna smiled acidly. "That, Beleren, is something that I will never tell anyone."

Jace slumped against the wall. "My mind is reeling, and that's saying something. Who's this adversary you need a mind mage for?"

"Mirko Vosk."

"The Mind Drinker? What do you plan to do?"

"Lazav decided to not make me the Dimir's champion, I run the Maze for myself and take whatever is at the end. But I can't do that."

"Why not!? Just use those shades you threw at me."

"I can't. Those shades need to regenerate every time I bring them out in the daytime. I have a lot, but Mirko will eventually find a weakness. That's why I need you. You need to help me fend off his telepathic attacks."

"That's all? That should be relatively easy." Jace pulled out a small necklace with a blank pendant. Writing some runes on it with a stylus, he whispered words and pulled mana from fountains on Ravnica. He handed the pendant over to Julna, and Julna noticed that it was now glowing blue. "This will protect against telepathy," Jace explained, "You need to keep putting mana into it, but it will keep Mirko from messing with your mind."

Putting it over his head, Julna smiled. Jace stood up and made for the door. "Well, now I can go back to my business."

"Oh, you will," Julna said, "But do you really think I'll let you walk away after everything I've told you? The only reason I told you in the first place was because I knew you would never walk out with that knowledge. I told you that my shades have to regenerate after being out in the day. But I didn't use all my shades in that attack. I still have one left." Saying the five words, Falderin detached himself and attacked Jace's mind, erasing Jace's memories of Julna and putting him to sleep. Julna instructed Falderin to take Jace back to his home, then rendezvous with Julna outside Vizkopa.

This just wasn't Jace's day.

Jace woke up in his home, having no memory of how he had got there.

_What?... How did I get here? Where's Niv-Mizzet? Where's Ral Zarek?_ He thought. The last thing he remembered was barely escaping from Niv-Mizzet's mind. He couldn't believe that he had held off Niv-Mizzet's mind single-handedly. It was probably the hardest thing he had ever done, but he had done it and gotten his information.

But there was something else… He had a feeling that there was something he was forgetting. Something that he was forced to forget. He searched his mind and found gaping holes where his memories of the last day should have been. They stretched from the moment he had left the Firemind to the moment when he woke up.

But there was still one thing. One tiny thing that had been left behind. It wasn't a memory, more like a subconscious impression. Something that couldn't be erased. The impression told him one thing.

_Watch the shadows._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Watch the Shadows

Ral Zarek stood with the dragon Niv-Mizzet at the very pinnacle of the tower known as Nivix. Today was the day; today they would announce everything they had struggled to learn to the entire city. Today they would finally be able to unlock the secrets that Azor I had hidden. Ral Zarek had tried to solve the Maze alone, only to find that he couldn't. They needed the help of all ten guilds in order to make it to the end. Now that Niv-Mizzet had finished his vast experiment and had figured out how to solve the Maze, he would have Ral Zarek summon a vast storm elemental, which would project his voice across Ravnica. Then the guilds would understand what needed to be done. He had heard that the Azorius and Dimir had already chosen champions; soon the other guilds would as well.

Champions…

Ral Zarek tried to hide his anger from the dragon. Instead of choosing the one who had helped uncover the secrets of the Maze, Niv-Mizzet chose a weird! Something that was little more than an animal. Well, Ral Zarek didn't care for the dragon any longer. After he summoned the elemental, he would run the Maze for himself, and he would triumph. No other planeswalkers were running the Maze.

And yet… something was wrong. He had thought about what had been happening more and more frequently these days. Something foreboding…

As he had been sneaking through the undercity of Ravnica, preparing everything for the announcement, he had noticed something rather odd. As he walked, the buildings cast shadows. They had shadows of people running across the rooftops, but there was no one there. And the buildings' shadows had begun to ripple themselves, as if something had just entered them, like the shadows were pools of water.

Something was going on. Something that he could not comprehend…

He would have to watch the shadows in the future.

Jace gasped and wheezed. He had just defeated the ogre Ruric Thar in single combat, something he never thought he could have done. The Gruul warriors stood in awe, staring at their leader. They began whispering, chanting something. The chanting became a crescendo, but Jace still couldn't understand what they were saying.

"Silence!" Ruric bellowed, "He has proven himself. Come, mind mage, and find what you are looking for." Jace was happy that it was over. Searching in Ruric Thar's mind, he found a bit of what he had forgotten.

_Watch the shadows… _What? What was that?

He pulled out of Ruric's mind and stared uncomprehendingly at the ogre. "What did you say?"

"Something that you must remember. It has been happening everywhere, and you must be careful. You have no memory of it, but it remembers you. And it is close. Be wary-"

One of the warriors shrieked and fell. Everyone crowded around the fallen warrior and saw what had killed him. It was a small spike attached to a chain. There were strips of cloth tied around the chain, painted a checkerboard of red, black, and white.

_Oh no…_

Dozens of little Rakdos devils swarmed into the clearing, and at the head was the blood-witch Exava. Cackling with glee, the devils began throwing their spikes and smashing their maces against every Gruul warrior they could see. Ruric Thar began smashing every devil in sight, the devils not even trying to defend themselves. Exava slashed with her cutlass and stabbed with the spike-sword she carried. The Gruul warriors were rapidly dying, and there weren't many left between Jace and Exava. He needed to do something quick.

He thought of a plan. It was crazy, but it just might work.

Mirko flew covertly through the dark undercity, stalking the informant who had summoned him. The Dimir agent was obviously a novice; he was barely able to conceal himself from the stragglers and beggars around him, let alone Mirko Vosk, Dimir Champion. He flew down and apprehended the agent for his near-failure, showing him a series of images designed to scare him beyond anything he had ever seen.

The figure stood, head bowed, and managed to stammer, "I-I-I apologize, Lord Vosk. I did n-n-not know that I came so close to observation. But I have not lied! I hold valuable information involving the choosing of the other champions."

Mirko's eyes narrowed. "Come with me," he said, "We're going to Duskmantle to see Lord Lazav."

They arrived at Duskmantle late in the evening, as the sun was barely above the horizon. The vampire guards dropped down and immediately let Mirko through after he planted the password in their minds. He quickly led the informant into Duskmantle, passing the Umbreomancer's Sanctum on the way up to Lazav's chambers. Strange, he hadn't seen Buras at all the past few weeks, and there had not been any activity observed inside the Sanctum, save it be the coming and going of Julna's shades. He wondered how Buras was taking the news that Mirko had won the designation of Dimir Champion. Probably moping in the Sanctum as he collected information for Mirko or searching for rogue shades that littered the various guildgates.

They arrived at Lazav's chambers and were ushered in immediately. Lazav sat in his chair, disguised as Buras in order to aggravate Mirko, making him prone to reveal more than he wanted to.

"Well, Mirko, what do you have for me today?" Lazav asked, looking at the cringing informant hiding behind Mirko.

"He says he has information involving the rest of the guild champions."

The informant walked forward and began talking, "I have found information not only on the choices, but their strengths and weaknesses. You know the identities of three of the guild Champions, being Lavinia of the Azorius, Teysa Karlov of the Orzhov, and, of course, Mirko Vosk from the Dimir. I have found information on four others. The demon Rakdos has chosen his favorite bloodwitch Exava as his champion. Though she is a very skilled fighter, she is reckless and has no sense of loss, fighting to the last man. The Golgari have chosen the troll warrior Varolz. He commands many zombies and plants, but he is weighed down by fungus and by the painful scars that stripe his back. Trostani has chosen Emmara Tandris, the elf woman. Though she commands the Selesnya, like all Conclave members, she places too much stake in honor and integrity. Finally, the Izzet have NOT chosen Ral Zarek the storm mage as their champion; they have created one. His name is Melek, and he is a weird designed to be the guild Champion. He will do whatever Niv-Mizzet tells him. That is all that I know."

Lazav glared at Mirko, saying, "The weird I did not know, but the rest I did. Why must you bring me informants who bring me small bits of knowledge I can learn myself? Take him out of my sight and do what you will with him."

"Wait!" the agent yelled in fear, "There is something else. Not information, more like a rumor. I was able to search the minds of Exava and Emmara, as well as many members of the Boros and Gruul. Their thoughts are nothing alike, except on one point. Everywhere I see, there is one thing they agree on. It's far too widespread to be a coincedence. One thing is congruent in the thoughts of the entire population.

Watch the shadows."

Julna hid, as always, in the shadows. He watched Jace take down Ruric Thar using the combined thoughts of the crowd around him. He watched silently as the Rakdos devils invaded the clearing, killing everything in sight. He fingered the faintly glowing pendant around his neck, a gift from Jace Beleren. As long as he kept mana inside it, no one would be able to telepathically assault him. Combine that with his shades' ability to keep him inconspicuous to the world around him, no one would notice him. He had been dogging Jace for the past week, making sure that he never remembered Julna and learning all the information Jace found out in his re-investigation. Not to mention the fact the Falderin had "just" remembered that something couldn't be erased from Jace's mind. Now Jace had been spreading the phrase "watch the shadows" all over Ravnica, causing a considerable hurdle once Mirko and Lazav put two and two together.

Still, Julna needed Jace alive. There was no one else that Julna felt comfortable following when he needed information.

A huge roar throbbed in Julna's mind, but he could tell that this wasn't a real thing. Looking toward the clearing, he saw Rakdos in the clearing, commanding the devils to stop. Julna was amazed that Jace could conjure up a thing so big so quickly. Still, the devils didn't seem sure that they were really seeing Rakdos; they seemed to be on the verge of attacking again. They needed a little extra push. Speaking seven words in the divine language, he summoned twenty-four middle level shades to expand the devils' fear and awe. Hopefully it would even work on Exava.

The devils shrieked in fear, cowering before the illusion with the emotional influence of Julna's shades. Exava momentarily showed fear of her master, but the shades could not influence her mind as easily as the brainwashed cultists. She still seemed afraid of Jace's power, and Julna's shades informed him that she understood that someone else was helping Jace.

Julna felt something. Not the weight of someone attacking his mind, but someone could see him. Turning towards Jace, he made eye contact with the mind mage. There was no flicker of recognition in Jace's eyes, but he could clearly see and feel Julna's mind, as well as his own magic protecting Julna.

Exava was enraged. She saw where Jace's eyes pointed and identified Julna as Jace's accomplice. Screaming in rage, she ran towards Julna, pointing both swords at Julna. Lazily speaking a few words, Julna sank into the shadowy wall behind him, leaving Exava staring in disbelief at the shadow of the man running into the distance. Livid, Exava turned back to see Jace running away as well. She chased after him.

Panting, Julna emerged in an alley near Vizkopa. Shadow travel was extremely exhausting when traveling long distance, though it guaranteed no pursuit except by powerful umbreomancers or shades. Falderin floated beside him, easing Julna's mental discomfort. After weeks of no mental contact, finally being glimpsed put his brain into shock. Falderin couldn't take away Julna's exhaustion, but he could ease the shock.

Someone came walking down the alleyway, and Julna heard the distinct tapping of a metal-plated cane.

Before he could conceal himself, Teysa Karlov and half a dozen thrull servants came strolling up the alleyway. She stopped, stared at Julna. He was too exhausted to shadow travel again, so he just stared at Teysa.

"From your clothing I can see that you're a Dimir agent," she said matter-of-factly, "That's not allowed. You must make your payment before coming into Orzhov territory, whether or not I knew you were here. Seize him." The thrulls all jumped forward, but Falderin rose to protect Julna by standing in front of him. Which made Julna completely vulnerable to the sizeable pontiff standing behind him with the sizeable club.

Groaning, Julna rubbed the knot on the back of his head as he slowly sat up. He was in an underground mausoleum, filled with coffins, all emblazoned with the Orzhov symbol.

Chuckling, Julna began chanting. The Orzhov's stupidity couldn't hold him. It was only after he felt behind that he noticed that his cloak was missing.

Maybe they weren't so stupid after all.

Cursing, Julna realized he was trapped. He hadn't actually planeswalked through the Blind Eternities in so long that he doubted he could find a good place to go; he'd probably end up in Shadowmoor or New Phyrexia. Looking around, he tried to find a door. The only one was on the far corner of the room, and it was open.

Throwing caution to the wind, Julna ran towards the door. As he got close, five ghosts sprang up and surrouned him. Five rich, well dressed ghosts.

Looking around wildly, Julna noticed that there were only five coffins in the crypt, all of which were gilded and decorated to the point of excess.

He paled, realizing that even Falderin could not hold up to the Obzedat. He was trapped.

The Obzedat stared at Julna, and he felt a pressure on his mind. Scrabbling around his collar, he noticed that his telepathy-blocker was gone too.

_We must have knowledge from you, _the fat one said, _How did you travel here? We received no knowledge of your approach until our ghasts reported you emerging from the shadow. Are you the one that was spoken of?_

"I don't know what you mean," Julna said out loud, "Who has been speaking of me?"

_We have heard reports to watch the shadows, and our ghasts have frequent dealings with the shades before they were restricted of their freedom. They speak of the Shadow's Seneschal, who shall come to bring them to greatness, and shall have an Object, which shall create their king, but the king shall be second to the Seneschal, because the Seneschal serves the substance from whence the king is made. And he shall become more than he was twice, gaining the darkness, followed by the light to join the water in his body-_

"Stop!" Julna interrupted, "I do not want to hear of my future. I admit that that sounds like me, but if it is, I do not wish to know what I will be. It changes the future and causes an immense headache when I inevitably try to find out what would have happened if I had never heard of it. But why do you want to know?"

_You have many talents that will be of use to us. Join us, or else you shall be sacrificed to the Deathpact to bring our champion back from the grave._

That might pose a problem. Julna was considering stepping into the Blind Eternities just to get away from the Obzedat when Teysa burst in, out of breath. "Oh Deathless, I must speak to you. The dragon Niv-Mizzet has sent an enormous storm elemental that is speaking of the Maze!"

The Obzedat all looked at Julna. _We will speak of this further_, they said in unison, _Teysa, stay here to guard him._

"But-"

_Stay here, Karlov. Or do you wish to return to your previous life?_

Evidently angered at their orders, Teysa gritted her teeth and said, "Yes, Great Ones."

The Obzedat vanished. Teysa turned to Julna and actually smiled. "Well, that went better than I thought it would They didn't even search my mind."

Julna's eyes widened. "Lazav!?" he said incredulously, "How did you…?"

"I impersonated Teysa to rescue you. Mirko and I need to ask you some things. Here are your valuables," he said, giving Julna his cloak and Jace's telepathy pendant, "Meet us back at Duskmantle."

"So were you being truthful when you told the Obzedat that Niv-Mizzet was making a district wide announcement?" Julna asked once they were safely out of Orzhov territory.

"I will be," Lazav replied slyly, "I have discovered that Niv-Mizzet plans to do just that in the next few hours."

They met Mirko in the Tenth District, who smirked at Julna as Julna silently glared at him, filled with resentment. Mirko had tampered with Julna's shades in order to discredit Julna! Lazav would not be convinced of this, as there was no more evidence; that shade no longer remembered what had happened. All Julna could do was wait and plan his revenge against the treacherous vampire.

The three Dimir members worked their way back to Duskmantle, Lazav changing his form to a nondescript vampire as they went. Once they were safely enclosed in Lazav's private chambers, he turned around and demanded, "Where have you been, Julna!? You were supposed to investigate the leylines! Now Niv-Mizzet is about to make an announcement about the Maze, and I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING HE'S GOING TO SAY."

Julna did not flinch at the shape-shifter's tirade. "I did not wish to," he said haughtily, "And I saw no reason why I should continue obeying you."

Lazav sat down in surprise. "Are you telling me you aren't following me anymore? Is this because of something as petty as you not being chosen? An initiate being chosen? I laugh at the very thought! And now you tell me that you hold a grudge against me for it!?" He calmed himself. "Unfortunately for you, Buras, anyone who no longer wishes to work with this organization cannot be allowed to remember it. You will be turned over to Mirko, who will painfully remove all memory of your powers and association with us from your mind." He nodded at Mirko, who smiled at stared at Julna, concentrating.

And Julna felt an immense pressure on his mind, building painfully. He quickly looked in his collar for Jace's pendant.

Lazav laughed. "You think I can't recognize a telepathy blocker when I see one? I gave you a fake to give you false confidence."

Julna tried to speak, but the pressure was building to near-insane levels. He concentrated with all his might, speaking the five command words slowly, so slowly. But he said them, and Falderin appeared, blocking Mirko's attack. With this bit of breathing room, Julna spoke twenty words in the divine language of Theros. With each word, the strictures and magical rules he had placed on his shades faded, until they were left with only one command.

_Attack the Mind Drinker._

The last word broke the door of the prison in the Umbreomancer's Sanctum, letting every shade free to make their way to the top floor. Without the door even moving, a cloud of shadows suddenly engulfed Julna. Several dark tendrils snaked out and wrapped themselves around Mirko's head. Mirko began to scream in pain.

Chanting, peppering his phrases with divine words, Julna raised his cloak. With a flash, he and every shade were gone, leaving Lazav staring in shock and Mirko moaning on the ground.

Thalia was traveling through Kessig, all weapons out and ready for werewolves, when a sudden flash a few feet away caught her by surprise. There weren't any mages out here, there were only wolves.

So what was it?

She inched closer, sword and knife pointed forward, when utter blackness surrounded her. It felt like a real thing, like a real wall that kept her from moving. She heard voices, too, all kinds of voices, shouting at once, numbing her mind and sending her unconscious. She tried to scream, but something grabbed hold of her brain and forced her into silence.

And then it was gone. The wall lifted, and she saw a handsome young man standing in the forest. He raised his hand, and without even moving towards her, he somehow took her weapons and threw them off into the distance. Now defenseless, she couldn't do anything except stare at him as he strolled over to her, as if Kessig was nothing more than a normal forest where air-headed youths would sneak away for private meetings. "Tell me, pretty one," he said casually, coming closer, "Where am I?"

"Can you not tell?" she asked haughtily, "Or have you been born under a rock to not recognize the Kessig Run when you see it?"

The man's eyebrows climbed higher. He muttered something to himself, but Thalia's sharp hearing could barely make out what he said, "Innistrad… Wasn't what I had in mind, but now that I think about it, it's perfect." He turned back to her. "What is your name?"

"Thalia. I am the patron of Thraben, and I protect the human population there."

"Very nice to meet you, Thalia. One last question: where can I find someplace dark, damp, and unimportant?"

She led Julna to a place that he hardly recognized. She called it "Nephalia" and said that only the corpses came here now. No one would bother him. He thanked her, and she left, seemingly glad to get away from him. That was fine with Julna; he wanted no witnesses.

Since the Umbreomancer's Sanctum on Ravnica was no longer an option, and with House Dimir spreading rumors about Julna, no place on Ravnica was safe for Julna to keep his shades. He had realized this after fending off Mirko Vosk, and had immediately left in search of a suitable replacement. Innistrad fit perfectly; it was dark, creepy, and was already crawling with monsters, one more couldn't hurt. He found an abandoned ship in a dried-up lake, surrouned by swampy water. Feeling this reservoir of power, Julna was happy. The black and blue manas would speed the regeneration process, allowing Julna to call upon his shades more often.

He called Falderin and showed him the place he had selected. Falderin looked around, staring at the landscape without a single emotion.

"It is satisfactory. The black-blue energies will feed us, and the shadow will repair our substance when we have need of it. Thank you, master, for choosing such an appropriate home."

They spent a week finding all the rogue shades that had escaped and binding them with new spells, as well as creating new shades to grow the population. In a ceremony held in the captain's quarters of the ship, Julna proclaimed Falderin the King of Shades, placing a crown of shadow on his head.

Julna couldn't help thinking of the prophecy the Obzedat had told him. He had just crowned his chief creation the King. Did that mean he was the Seneschal? The one who was to be filled with "the darkness first, then the light, which shall join the water"? He didn't know, but if he was, he had a sinking feeling as to what they meant by "The darkness, the light, and the water". And it filled him with dread to think about it.

He told Falderin to stay behind in order to build the shades into a true society. They had grown into more than just Julna's servants; Julna wanted them to have a true life. They were still completely loyal, but if zombies and werewolves had any sort of structure, then the shades should too.

Falderin objected of course. "I must stay with you, master," he said, surprisingly sorrowful, "I cannot think of what to do when I am not by your side."

"You'll manage," Julna responded, "You have an entire civilization to build. Once it's been set up, you can come back to me. I was never planning on leaving my best supporter forever." It was surprising how close he felt to the shade. He had created Falderin, and, like a mother and her newborn child, there was a bond that he could never break, even with a thousand betrayals.

He even had tears growing in his eyes as he walked into the forest and used Urza's cloak to travel back to Ravnica.

He reappeared in the Tenth District of Ravnica, making sure not to be seen by Dimir agents. He may not have had his shades, but he could still control shadows. He marveled at the incongruence of the passage of time. He had spent a week on Innistrad, but only an hour had passed on Ravnica. He made his way to the central promenade. That was where it would be easiest to hear Niv-Mizzet's message.

As he heard Niv-Mizzet's voice explaining the inner workings of the Maze, he was not aware of the extraordinarily rare occurrence happening. Julna did not know he was being watched. The vampire stood, like Julna had done so many times, in the shadow of a balcony on a nearby rooftop, staring down at the figure below. He had heard rumors that Buras had a new body, but he could recognize that cloak anywhere. He wanted to bring Buras in, but he didn't. There was something about him, a magic that was not his own. He had the stink of a telepath about him, and not just any telepath, a planeswalker. Jace Beleren.

The vampire hissed to himself, struggling to stay calm. He did not want to go into another rage like the time he had cursed Julna on Zendikar. He needed to see how many accomplices Buras had gathered, and what his plan was.

Sorin Markov made his way down the building to the street below, making sure to exit out to an alleyway that Julna would not see him in. He needed to check with Avacyn on the spread of the shades. They needed to be stopped before all of Innistrad was engulfed.

They needed to watch the shadows closely in the future.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dark Labyrinth

The nameless shade slithered through the many shadows of the forest known as Kessig. He had finally completed his quota for the day and would receive his first reward in months. He did not move as quickly as he had traveling to the nearby town called Thraben, but this was expected; he was weighed down by half a dozen shadows. The Great One would be happy to have so much sustenance from one of such low level. It had been an enormous stroke of luck when the shade had found an entire family cowering in their homes, covered completely in light to hide them. If it hadn't been for the rebellious youth sticking a foot in the shadows, the shade could never have gotten to them. The others had foolishly decided that it must have been a mouse or something when they sensed a life in that house, but the shade had stopped to investigate and discovered what was truly there. The family had nothing to defend themselves against a creature of pure shadow, so their shadows were quickly taken from them. Nothing would happen to them as long as their shadows remained intact, but when the Seneschal consumed them, the rest of their soul would leak out through the hole left by the missing piece. But this was no matter, as long as the shadows served their purpose.

The Seneschal was rather fond of them, after all. ************************************************** ***********

"Friends, Ravnicans, and guildsmen," Niv-Mizzet's voice boomed from the vast storm elemental overhead, "I wish to make an announcement. This will concern all ten guilds, and many of you have heard some of what I wish to tell you today.

Most of you may have noticed the investigations and peculiar activity of the Izzet League, and possibly began investigations of your own. For the oblivious or near-sighted ones, I tell you to be calm. I shall tell all of you what you need to know.

Our investigations have all been centered on the strange blue markings that appeared a few months ago in the Tenth District. We have a theory as to where they came from: something or someone placed a powerful talisman in the ground right on top of these leylines, which activated them."

Julna was surprised. Not that someone had activated them; he had done that himself, but that the Izzet had figured that out simply by examining the site. The shard of etherium that had started it now resided in Julna's ribs, safe from any examination.

"These leylines are not natural. They were placed there by the _parun_ of the Azorius Senate, Azor I. They form a sort of maze that spans all ten districts. We do not know who activated them; most likely a high-ranking Azorius official sent by Isperia herself. We also do not know what awaits at the end of the maze, but I believe it to be a prize to the guild who can follow it to the end.

You cannot just follow the leylines straight to the end; Azor did not design it this way. He believed, foolhardly, in my opinion, that the guilds of Ravnica could work together and cooperate to make Ravnica better. Needless to say, the maze must be followed through all ten guildgates before you may proceed to the Maze's End.

I therefore declare that the competition shall begin in three days. The start of the Maze seems to be at the Transguild Promenade. Each guild must choose a champion, though many already have. If you have not, choose one. It does not matter who, as long as they can run the Maze the fastest.

Good luck, and may the best guild win. If mine wins, as it most likely will, do not feel discouraged." With one last crash of thunder, the storm elemental dissolved into mist.

Julna walked away, pondering this new information. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walk away from the edge of a roof off to his right.

Julna flinched. It was a vampire, and for a second Julna thought it was Mirko Vosk. Or worse, Sorin Markov.

He shrugged off the strange sight, believing it to be just another Dimir agent.

Falderin fled through the forest, trying to escape from his pursuers. They moved quickly, filled with purpose given to them by the Seneschal. Over the past few months, Falderin's title had slowly been taken until he was no longer designated as the King of Shades. They had their Seneschal, and no other ruler could be allowed to usurp his authority.

There was no hope of getting help from any of the humans of Thraben. They were afraid of the shades that came to steal their shadows and wouldn't take kindly to Falderin, even if he wasn't with the rest of them. They had even starting sending out geist-catchers to defeat the shades. This was utter foolishness; shades and spirits were two vastly different things.

He passed out of the forest into an open plain that dropped down a sheer cliff into the ocean. The shades were catching up to him. Falderin could jump over the cliff, but that wouldn't stop ethereal beings; they would just follow him.

A pulsing magical aura slammed into Falderin. Something powerful was nearby. Something that Falderin could possibly use.

Jutting out on a little overhang was an immense, jagged monolith. It looked a little like a capsule atop a pillar, and crows were flying around, both attracted and repelled by it.

Falderin had heard of this thing. He had spied on angels trying to defend the humans from the shades. They had said something about trying to place the shades in the "Helvault". Well, maybe Falderin would do just that. He glided all the way up to the Helvault and suddenly felt an immense pull from the monolith. He fought with all his might to keep from being sucked in through the small crack he could now see in tits wall.

The shades approached the struggling King and laughed. "To think we had such a sniveling wretch as our king!" they said to each other. One moved forward, larger than the others. "Seize him!" he said, and the shades cackled, flying forward. At the last moment, Falderin used the rest of his power to push himself out of the way. The shades cried out as they were pulled into the Helvault.

Working quickly, Falderin flew to a graveyard he had seen in the forest, absorbing all the black mana from the rotting bodies below. Holding it, but not absorbing it, he made his way back to the Helvault, hoping that the shades had not escaped. Relieved at the sight of them struggling against the pull, he released the black mana that he had absorbed and made a dark barrier to keep the shades from getting out.

His work done, he fled from the scene, trying to find a way to contact his master.

Jace Beleren was troubled as he waited at the promenade. His instincts told him that a dangerous enemy was nearby, but it was not Ral Zarek, and that was the only enemy that Jace could see. He wondered if this unknown enemy was responsible for the gap in his memories and the vague impression of the danger of shadows that remained. Over the past few days, he had been trying to regrow some of his memories, with little success. He remembered giving a telepathy pendant to somebody, most likely the planeswalker he had seen much earlier when the Rakdos had attacked, but that was all. Hopefully his mind treatment would yield more memories of this mysterious planeswalker.

He made sure to stay away from the Guild Champions, using his mind to keep himself hidden from them; Niv-Mizzet would not be happy if his carefully created contest was disrupted by an unkown variable. Not to mention the fact that Exava would not be happy to see him again. Ruric Thar, with both of his heads, did not make eye contact with anyone. Lavinia eyed them all, obviously wondering whom she should arrest first once the race began. The only one even speaking was Teysa, giving terse intstructions to the group of thrull servants that milled around her. A soft pulsing sound emanated from Mizzet's weird Champion, Melek. The two elements used to create him seemed to be electricity and water, the active and the passive.

The one person he didn't want to see was Gideon Jura, the planeswalker. He had come to Ravnica in order to try and enlist other planeswalkers to fight some sort of battle on Zendikar; Jace didn't really care. Ravnica was his home, and he needed to help it survive. Besides, Zendikar was doomed; the Eldrazi would destroy the plane before he could do anything about it.

What was that?

He had seen someone lurking in the shadows of the promenade arches. He had caught a glimpse of a blue cloak, but that was all. Almost like someone was wearing a telepathic blocker…

Well, well. The mysterious planeswalker. This race was going to be interesting.

Julna fingered the telepathic blocker he had recovered from Duskmantle, not entirely sure that it was worth the effort. Fighting the memory wards around the Guildhall, especially without Falderin, had been one of the most difficult things he had done since creating the hedrons that trapped the Eldrazi. Then he had had to sneak past all the telepaths in Duskmantle without being glimpsed by any of them. Urza's Cloak had helped him get past locked doors, but he had to be very careful to make sure that no one was on the other side. Creating some shades, which was now absurdly easy, helped keep him innocuous in Duskmantle.

Now he could be protected from Jace Beleren and Mirko Vosk. Being in such close proximity to the Mind Drinker, even though neither could see the other, made Julna jumpy. Mirko, as far as Julna could tell, was lurking around the promenade. He could sense where Mirko was, but was unable to see him. Must be some sort of blanket mind-wipe effect.

Niv-Mizzet's voice boomed from a cloud overhead. "Welcome, Champions!" it roared, "Today is when we shall finally uncover the secret of the maze. Beginning at this promenade, you must follow the leylines through all ten guildgates before arriving at the Forum of Azor. Everyone, prepare to start."

This was it. Julna summoned the shades he had created and hid, near the end of the promenade. The other champions edged towards the exit as well. Julna thought he saw a glimpse of Mirko Vosk as the vampire flew from one dark ledge to another. Niv-Mizzet spoke again, "Prepare for the maze, my fellow Ravnicans! BEGIN!"

All the champions bolted forward, desperately trying to pass each other as they made their way to the nearest gate, Orzhova. Lavinia summoned energy handcuffs that stopped Exava in her tracks, Emmara summoned a wolf that knocked Varolz back, and Ruric Thar opted for the non-magical approach, knocking Tajic of the Boros to the ground. Julna had his shades attack the mind of anyone close has he himself made his way to Duskmantle. All of the other guilds except Dimir would have a hard time finding it, so Julna would be able to make it through unhindered.

Or so he thought. As he turned into an alleyway, something shot out from behind him and entangled his legs, followed by a painful sting. Julna tumbled to the ground.

Grimacing, he looked back and saw three whip-like blades cutting into his flesh. A _sural_.

_Oh dear…_

Gideon Jura walked up, his hand held out to keep Julna bound in the blades of his sural. "You have no idea how hard it is to catch you, planeswalker," he said smugly, "You are always cloaked by a powerful shadow, but now it is gone, and I can track you."

Julna struggled under the stinging whip. "What do you want from me, Jura?" he asked bitingly, "What could a mage of white magic possibly want with an umbreomancer?"

"I simply wish to talk," Jura said, "And request your help in a matter that I have been troubled with."

Julna sighed. "Let me out," he said, resigned, "And I'll listen."

Gideon said a few words and flicked his hand back; the sural blades retracted and coiled around his arm. "Now," he began, "I'm sure you know that I am a planeswalker like yourself. I have traveled to my share of planes, but, recently, I came across a plane that is in dire peril. It is called Zendikar, and it is about to be destroyed."

Julna sighed inwardly. _And here I thought I was finished with Zendikar. Apparently not, it just keeps coming back to haunt me,_ he thought.

"Zendikar has been the prison of immensely powerful entities called the Eldrazi," Gideon continued, "And I feel it is my duty to try and stop them from destroying the entire plane. For that, I need planeswalkers; they are by far the most powerful of mages."

All the time that Jura had been talking, Julna had stood up and was slowly inching toward the dark alleyway behind him. He had no interest in being roped into Gideon's plan; he had a maze to solve. Julna dove forward. Even as Gideon saw what he was doing and lashed out with the sural, Julna sank into the shadows and disappeared.

Gideon shook his head. "Now I'll have to begin my search again," he mumbled.

Julna tumbled out outside the Izzet Guildgate. He was about to quickly pass through the gate and flee when a powerful bolt of lightning struck twenty feet away, knocking him to the ground. Looking up, he cursed and quickly hid himself as he watched Ral Zarek and Jace Beleren in an all-out duel. Zarek had called up another storm elemental that Jace was desperately trying to defray by summoning illusions.

Surprisingly, Julna had the desire to help Jace. He didn't need the mind mage anymore, but he still felt that Jace needed help. Something about this planeswalker was going to be important to the future of Ravnica.

Sighing, Julna called up all the shades he had created and sent them at the storm elemental and Zarek. They would implant the image of Jace fleeing in Ral Zarek's mind and the image of a terrifying illusion in the elemental's. Ral Zarek yelled, running towards whom he thought was Jace, but was actually Julna. Jace stared in amazement at Julna. Julna saluted Jace, then sprinted off, leading Ral Zarek in the opposite direction as Jace passed through the guildgate and off in search of the others.

Julna led the Izzet planeswalker a good distance away from Nivix, then called back the shades. Ral Zarek blinked as the image of Jace morphed into an unrecognizable planeswalker. He screamed in frustration and demanded, "Where is that telepath!? WHERE IS HE?"

Julna laughed. "Out of your reach now, Zarek," he replied, "And there is nothing you can do to stop him from reaching the end."

Ral Zarek stood there, dumbfounded. "Then I shall have the satisfaction of ridding the Multiverse of an annoying mage!" He sent the storm elemental at Julna, enormous bolts of lightning shooting from it. Julna sank into the shadows and reappeared behind Zarek. It was a desperate move; Julna couldn't figure out how to get rid of the storm elemental. He couldn't run, either; there wasn't enough time to activate Urza's cloak or sink into the Blind Eternities.

Julna had an idea when he saw the elemental casting a long shadow across the ground. Pulling with all his might, Julna detached the shadow and quickly infused his cloak with it. Connecting his mind with the many swamps and islands he had visited, Julna called up an immense reservoir of blue and black mana, which he poured into the shadow. Julna ripped out the mixture from his cloak and let it take form in front of him. A shadowy version of the elemental coalesced. Julna immediately gave it commands to defend him against the shade's physical counterpart. The elemental and the shade doppelganger were locked in combat, both so equally matched that neither could get a foothold. What could he do?

An idea came to him, but he immediately dismissed it. It was blasphemy; only the nymphs and chosen of the gods could do that. Julna was a thaumaturge, a graduate mage of the great Meletian Academy, but he would never have been allowed to tap into Nyx. The Academy trustees had thrown him out for daring to learn the God's language; they would sentence him to execution if they knew what he was planning. But there was no other way.

Chanting in the language of the Gods of Theros, Julna projected his mind out through the Blind Eternities, looking for mana. He found numerous swamps and islands, but he was searching for one specific land.

His skin began to glow with stars and points of light as he connected his mind with Nyx, the home of the Gods. He uttered words that would place all his might and strength into the shade. The stars grew brighter as the entire night sky seemed etched into his body.

Julna vanished and a bright trail of energy descended upon the shade.

With a roar, the shadow entity surged forward, its shadowy, ethereal form becoming more solid. Ral Zarek yelled in surprise as the storm elemental began to shrink in size, the lightning flashing inwardly at the heart of the storm. A single, blinding flash lit the alleyway as the storm elemental exploded into rain droplets.

Screaming with rage, Ral Zarek shot a bolt of pure, red energy at the shade above him. The shade groaned and shrank, the solidity leaving it. It shrank until it became a pure black stone the size of a pebble.

The starry stream of energy left the stone and coalesced into Julna, who was breathing heavily. He had never thought that could be so taxing. Ral Zarek was also gasping for breath, having used all his strength to destroy the shade. Curiously, Julna picked up the pebble. He flinched as the thoughts of the shade coursed through his mind. Somehow, even though the shade's body had been destroyed, its mind was still encased inside this stone. And it had power. Julna could feel vitality returning to his body. This shade was lending Julna its strength.

The flow of energy ceased, and the stone crumbled into dust.

Ral Zarek stood up, pointed at Julna, and said, "This isn't over, planeswalker. We will meet again, and I will be ready next time." He faded into the air as the Blind Eternities engulfed him.

Julna turned back at the now-unguarded Izzet Guildgate. He had a maze to complete.

Sorin stared at the creature kneeling before him, if you could call it that. It had no concrete body, because it was a shade. It had a head and arms, with piercing blue eyes, but was simply a wisp from the waist down. It was also the only shade he had ever heard speak.

"Tell me again. Your master is a good man?" Avacyn said, stepping forward from her throne, "Yet he released your kind upon us to steal our souls for his appetites?"

The shade looked up, enraged. "My master is not the one who does these things! That is the Old One, the one who gave my brethren the prophecies that led my master to create me. He crowned me King of the Shades, and told me to create us as a peaceful society. But the Old One rose up from obscurity, and caused my brethren to depose me and brand me a fugitive!"

Sorin stood there, thinking about this information. Buras obviously had not known about this "Old One", or he surely would have done something to stop this. He knew Julna well enough to know that the planeswalker thought through all plans before making a decision.

"So why have you come to us?" he asked, "What could we possibly do to stop this plague?"

"You must find my master. He is on another world, but I need him to correct his servants, or else I and all else will be lost!"

Avacyn frowned. "Other worlds?"

"Do not dwell on it, Avacyn," Sorin said quickly, "I know where he is. Do you have a name, shade?"

"Most do not, but my name is Falderin."

"I do not know if he will listen to me, but I can try and contact him. In return, you will tell us all you know about the Shade's Plague. Understood?"

Falderin nodded. "If you find him, please take me back to him."

Sorin nodded, walked out of the room, and planeswalked away.

The Forum of Azor was in total chaos. The guild champions were fighting one another, and Jace was desperately trying to keep them from it. Julna wasn't sure why he was so desperately trying to fan the flames, but this was not good for the so-called "guild cooperation" that Azor I had wanted. Julna snuck into the proceedings making sure to be inconspicuous to all who saw him.

He pulled Jace away and demanded, "What is going on here? What are you trying to accomplish?"

Jace's eyes widened. "You… Who are you, and why do I feel like I already know."

Julna sighed. "That doesn't matter right now," he replied, "Why is it so important that they not fight?"

"If they don't stop, the Azorius will deliver their supreme verdict, which will destroy everyone. I don't have the power to stop them! I tried once, but the Dimir guildmaster provoked them again."

Julna scowled. "Lazav," he said bitterly, "He is the worst of them all." He thought for a moment. "I have an idea, but it will be taxing on me and a peculiar experience for you. Can you trust me?"

Jace hesitated, then said, "I don't see any other way. Let's do it."

Jace stepped out in front of all the champions. No one noticed him, but that didn't matter. The bailiff came up to him and said, "The verdict is declared. Any one of these can activate it."

Jace stared at him in shock. "Steady," the planeswalker said from behind him, "That just makes our plan that much more important."

Jace nodded to himself. Breathing deeply, he reached out and connected the minds of all ten guild champions.

He was immediately bombarded with ten different voices in his mind, all shouting different things. He couldn't think for himself over this mental overload. His determination floundered, and he momentarily lost his sense of self. He began to see stars, and he took this as a final sign of his failure.

But these stars weren't normal. They weren't the stars you saw after a hit on the head. In fact, he thought he could see the whole night sky in front of him.

"Hold on," the planeswalker's voice told him, "Keep it together."

The voice triggered something in Jace's mind. A barrier broke, and he remembered everything about this planeswalker. His name was Julna Buras, and he was born on the plane of Theros. He had also brutally used Jace to further his own plans.

But now he was helping Jace…

"I feel guilty about what I did to you," Julna explained, "So I wanted to help you. Wait, the bailiff is saying something."

The bailiff declared Jace as the new Guildpact of Ravnica, and Jace released his hold on the champion's minds. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a stream of starry energy coalesce into Julna, who melted into the shadows and ran away.

_Goodbye… friend,_ Jace thought.

Julna materialized outside his old home in the Tenth district. The leylines no longer pulsed through the streets; their purpose had been accomplished. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. Maybe he would go back to Theros, explore Setessa or try to find the entrance to the Underworld.

"Well, that was something to see, you dissolving into stars," a voice said from behind him.

Julna whirled around and gasped as he saw Sorin Markov standing in front of him. Julna threw his shades at Sorin, but the vampire waved his hand and suddenly a shade of his own was defending him.

That shade was Falderin.

"Falderin!" Julna said in surprise, running forward. Falderin flew to him, yelling "Master!"

Sorin walked forward, smiling at the quaint reunion of a sort of father and child. "Julna, we need to talk."

Julna looked up in anger. "About what?" he demanded, "About how you cursed me back on Zendikar? How you falsely accused me of convincing Nissa Revane to release the Eldrazi? Why are you here, Sorin? Who told you where I was?"

Sorin held up a hand. "I would not be here if I did not need your help, and I do. Your ignorance released a plague upon Innistrad that even Avacyn and I cannot stop."

Julna was confused. "What plague?"

"The plague of shades that you released in Nephalia! They spend their days raiding the people's shadows and taking it back to their ruler, who feasts on them day and night!"

Julna looked at Falderin accusingly. "It was not my fault, Master!" Falderin said, "Something else took over and deposed me! I ran for my life and found the vampire, who agreed to find you and return me to you. Something far older than me has taken control of the shades. They call it the Old One, and it was the entity that created the prophecies about the Shadows' Seneschal. It enticed the shades to rebellion and set itself up as the Seneschal and ruler of them!"

Julna sighed. He turned to Sorin and said, "Fine. I will go with you to Innistrad. My business on Ravnica is finished, anyway."

Sorin nodded. "Let us go then. We have a plague to eradicate."

Julna didn't move. "But you must remember one thing, Sorin. I am not doing this for you or Innistrad; Falderin and my shades need me. If you keep me from doing anything that I believe will stop this mutiny, you will be sorry. Understand?"

Sorin smiled and faded into the Blind Eternities. Julna lifted his cloak, took a last look at Ravnica, then chanted the words and disappeared to Innistrad.


End file.
